Creating a plan for crisis prevention, intervention, and postvention procedures allows schools to prepare for the traumatic consequences when a crisis inevitably occurs. The comprehensive crisis plan checklist--second edition (CCPC-2; McCleary & Aspiranti, 2020) is a 102-item tool created for evaluating individual school and district crisis…

Managing education and research during pandemics has increased in importance since the onset of epidemics such as avian flu, SARS and now COVID-19. Successful management in times of crisis ensures business continuity and institutional survival, making preparedness preceding an impending pandemic essential. Institutions of higher education (IHEs)…

Background: Crisis events, both manmade and natural, could materialize at any time on the campus of a higher education institution, and often have a detrimental impact to the mental health of those experiencing the event. There is already a high prevalence in mental health disorders in college-age individuals and crisis events can often…

As the research base for school crisis intervention and prevention expands, the need for well-developed tools to assess school readiness in the event of a crisis increases. This paper describes how the Comprehensive Crisis Plan Checklist (CCPC) was updated to reflect advances in crisis management and crisis planning. An extensive literature search…

Using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), this report presents findings both on crime and violence in U.S. public schools and on the practices and programs schools have used to promote school safety. SSOCS is managed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of…

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a concept that can be traced to an article published by the American Psychiatric Association in 1954 recognizing the benefits of early crisis interventions that relieve stress and human suffering. This fact sheet explores the goals of PFA models; outlines when and how schools can implement PFA, including…

International students have contributed to the internationalization and diversification of U.S. higher education; yet, when COVID-19 struck, it became evident that this subset of the U.S. higher education student population was left unaccounted for and unprotected. This manuscript underscores the unimaginable damage and disruption that can occur…

School preparedness is strengthened by prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery activities (also known as the five preparedness mission areas). This fact sheet describes: (1) what recovery is; (2) how recovery is connected to the other preparedness missions; (3) what recovery efforts planning teams may want to consider; and (4)…

This updated and expanded new edition continues the theme of the second edition that presents a framework by which the reader can gain a broader and deeper understanding of the issues involved with campus violence incidents. In order to understand the current state of campus violence, two sources of information must be considered--the factual and…

Schools are often the geographic and sociological center of a community. Given modern community emergencies and challenges, schools should make the most of this role and best allocate their resources to maximize the positive impact they have during difficult times. This article uses the vantage point of school psychologists and school nurses from…

Entertainment-education has proved to be an engaging medium through which to explore health and social issues in populations. Given the popularity of the zombie theme in popular culture it is no surprise therefore that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopted this theme in an effort to engage youth and young adults in emergency…

It is a complex challenge to design education in emergencies responses that meet local needs, are sensitive to local culture, build on international guidelines for best practice, and use research-based methods. This paper presents lessons learned from the implementation of the Better Learning Program, a school-based response in Gaza that combined…

As our nation has become more aware of severe, yet usually rare, crisis events in schools, the need for crisis planning is more evident. Although the severity of crises can differ greatly (e.g., school shooting versus physical assaults), crisis preparedness is an essential component of schools' responsibilities in order to effectively respond…

Most schools have crisis plans to support student safety, but few plans address the complex needs of students with disabilities. School supports should include analysis of school plans and student strengths and needs to ensure that students with disabilities have the best opportunity to be safe in school crises. Recommendations include developing…

Positive academic performance is a strong indicator of subsequent positive life course outcomes (e.g., employment) as well as underrepresentation in psychiatric populations, drug use, school dropout, and subsequent legal trouble (A. Farn & J. Adams, 2016). As such, helping all children to be successful in school is a top priority for parents,…